


Vod baatir vod: Brothers care for brothers.

by BigFatBumblebee



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Action, BAMF Obi-Wan Kenobi, Cody and Kix will look after their General, Fluff, Gen, Hurt Obi-Wan Kenobi, Hurt/Comfort, Obi-Wan Kenobi Whump, Very Cheesy, the 212th loves their General, whether he likes it or not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:15:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25095199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigFatBumblebee/pseuds/BigFatBumblebee
Summary: Early on in the war it takes an argument in the medbay after a “stupid, self-sacrificing stunt” for Obi-Wan Kenobi to understand his place in the hearts of the 212th. And a rather stupid comment to understand how downright scary his medic is.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Naps
Comments: 49
Kudos: 646





	Vod baatir vod: Brothers care for brothers.

**Author's Note:**

> As with maybe a couple of my other stories I have taken some artistic licence and make Kix a member of the 212th, I just really like him!

It was getting dark, and it was cold. Obi-Wan’s fingers were almost numb, wrapped around his lightsabre hilt, and hours of blaster fire and explosions had left a faint ringing in his ears.

The figures of his men were being obscured by the fine drizzle that had started a while ago, they were just flashes of white and yellow behind him in his peripheral vision. He waved his lit lightsabre in a “forward” motion, hoping they understood the instruction to follow him; he’d lost his communicator in the mud an hour or so ago.

There were almost there, he could feel it. Hours of pushing on in the miserable, difficult conditions were starting to pay off and the droids were thinning out, and the CIS allied militia were being forced back.

Just a little longer.

He threw himself and the nearest trooper – Nails, he noted, behind a pile of building, narrowly avoiding the rocket fired at where they had just been standing. He closed his eyes against the almighty crash that followed the whistle, pushing Nails’ head down.

“SIR-“ The trooper evidently hadn’t seen much action yet and Obi-Wan could feel his shock and fear leaking out into the Force, mingling with the frustration and exhaustion of the others surrounding him.

Obi-Wan took a breath sent a wave of encouragement and reassurance at them in the Force, gratified when he felt them perk up a little.

_Nearly there_

He smiled at Nails and placed a bolstering hand on his shoulder. He wasn’t sure he was completely convincing; it was hard to smile when he could feel the exhaustion eating away at his very last reserves of strengths and the concentration it was taking to ignore his many hurts was wearing on him.

He turned around as he felt a familiar presence jogging up to him.

“GENERAL”

His second in command, Marshall Commander Cody, knelt next to them behind the rubble. Obi-Wan ran an appraising eye over him; no obvious injuries but his armour and helmet were singed and dented in places.

“CODY, AN UPDATE PLEASE” He roared above the noise around them.

“NEARLY THERE SIR” His Commander shouted back. “AIR SUPPORT HAS MANAGED TO BREAK THROUGH THE BLOCKADE, AND WE’VE TAKEN OUT THEIR SONIC CANNONS”

Obi-Wan let out a relieved breath.

“EXCELLENT” he shouted, only to sharply bring his volume down when we realised the firing had suddenly stopped overhead. He cleared his throat painfully; So much shouting was taking its toll.

“The shield is now down, and I should expect their full surrender within the next couple of hours, there’s not much between us and the Sep base.” He added to Cody’s report with his own team’s activities.

He could see the Commander’s squad coming up behind them, crouching down similarly and mingling with his own team. Bar Waxer’s pilots coming to their rescue from the air, the 212th was reunited.

Obi-Wan wordlessly held out a hand and Cody passed him a spare com. From his position crouched on the floor he turned to the rest of his men.

“Team A have been successful, and the sonic cannons are down. We’ve knocked out their shields and air support is on the way” he informed them, to a cheer. “It’s not over yet though” he cautioned. “We’ll move forward in a-“

He stopped short, his head whipping behind him as the Force bleared in warning.

_Danger danger danger danger_

“Sir?”

He waved a hand for silence as he narrowed his eyes on the deserted town in front of their temporary shelter, all his senses on high alert, coiled like a spring.

The Force was screaming but he couldn’t see anything, couldn’t hear anything…

 _Remain covered_ he mouthed silently at Cody, who passed it behind them in a series of hand gestures.

He should learn those, he thought fleetingly.

They crouched and knelt in the mud and the drizzle for a moment, in tense silence. Obi-Wan growled frustratedly. He couldn’t concentrate. Something was coming…

There.

The bottom of his stomach dropped, and he swore as he identified the danger. There was a repulsor grenade headed straight for them.

Squashing the urge to search for the source, a natural reaction but it was too late for that, he could see the deadly projectile coming closer and looked back at his troops, frantically calculating trajectory and speed and possible escape. They had seconds until it hit.

They were all crouched in a cluster, way too many of them to move in time and all in a nice, easily targeted group.

Nothing for it.

“MOVE!” he shouted, verbally and in the Force, standing up he felt his damp muddy tunic swaying heavily behind him and he held out a hand towards the projectile. _Stop_ he commanded.

Dimly he heard Commander Cody shouting at him but sinking into the Force he absently pushed the clone towards the others and away from him.

He pushed at the grenade, but it was no use. His Force abilities were hampered by fatigue and overuse. He noticed some time ago that he was flirting with a nasty case of psychic shock but he’d ignored it; there had been lives to save.

He pushed and fumbled in the Force again but the grenade was moving too quickly to catch or to stop, he couldn’t quite get a grip on the thing; it slipped out of his grasp each time. And it was coming closer.

He could hear the men behind him. They’d never get out in time. 

_Please please please just one last go. Help me!_ He sent a desperate plea to the Force, before taking his last stand.

He couldn’t stop the grenade; he didn’t have that level of control anymore. But he could still protect his men.

 _One last time, that’s all I need_ he prayed again. He could see the casing of the grenade now, it had crossed the threshold and now would hurt them even if he stopped it.

Taking a deep breath, he spread his arms wide and sank deeper into the Force. Pulling on absolutely every ounce of energy he had and borrowing some he didn’t, he pictured a wall, a shield, between his men and the grenade. His hands _were_ the shield and just as the screech of the grenade got too loud, he gave an almighty push with everything he had.

He closed his eyes as the grenade exploded and for a moment thought he might have failed; he felt the heat of the explosion warm his face and the force of the blast push against him. A sharp pain told him something had struck his shoulder, and the palms of his hands _burned,_ but he remained steadfast, a last line of defence, and the explosion went no further; hitting him and the surrounding space like an invisible wall.

It was over in moments. The ringing in his ears was almost unbearable and he could feel something wet dribble down his face. Distantly he felt himself fall to his knees as the strength he had borrowed abruptly left him.

_Ow!_

His head smacking painfully hard against the rubble was the last thing he felt before blackness overcame him.

\---

As he watched his C.O pause mid-sentence, Commander Cody knew from the look on his face that Jedi Nonsense was about to go down.

He hadn’t known the man more than a few months, but what he had seen so far impressed him greatly. General Kenobi’s personality and skill made it very easy for the 212th to respect him, and most of them were utterly devoted to him. Cody’s General was a talented warrior and a very clever man; he wouldn’t stop everything unless there was a good reason.

Sure enough, everything in the General’s posture tensed and screamed ‘danger’ and a second later his lunatic General broke cover and stood up with a roar of “MOVE”.

Cody didn’t need telling twice. Most of the men behind them heard the command but Cody bellowed it down the comms too.

“EVERYBODY MOVE, INCOMING FIRE”

It was a testament to their training that nobody panicked. Instead soldiers quickly and efficiently got to their feet and legged it back the way they’d came and out of a probable blast zone. If Cody had interpreted General Kenobi’s actions correctly, they were about to get hit.

He turned back to the Jedi, standing with his eyes closed, and made to pull the _di’kut_ away to safety. Only to find himself pushed back by an invisible force. 

_Son of a –_

He caught the slightly mutinous thought and could only watch in horror as General Kenobi closed his eyes ( _closed his eyes_ in the middle of a battlefield!) and held himself like he was pushing an invisible crate.

_No no no no_

Cody knew what was going to happen next and as if in slow motion he saw the grenade come sailing towards them, towards his General, only for it to stop short in front of him and explode.

Cody ducked and shielded his face instinctively and saw most of the troops doing the same; very few had made it to a safe distance. He braced himself for heat, expecting to be knocked over by the force of the explosion and to feel shrapnel raining down on him.

Nothing happened.

He opened his eyes and looked back, only to see General Kenobi in front of a wall of flames.

It was like something from a dream or a legend. The General hadn’t broken his stance, facing seemingly certain death with his red hair reflecting the light of the explosion and the aftermath of the blast being pushed vertical instead of horizontal.

It was over in an instant, before the Jedi was falling to the floor limp, like a puppet with its strings cut.

Cody couldn’t breathe for a moment, before he was on his feet and running to his General’s side.

“MEDIC, SOMEONE GET A MEDIC OVER HERE” he bellowed into his com, before ripping off his bucket and putting his ear to the unconscious man’s mouth. 

_Oh Force Oh no no Oh Force_

Cody couldn’t hear him breathing. He scrambled for a pulse in his neck, too afraid of touching burnt palms to try his wrist.

General Kenobi looked dead. He was completely still, pale from blood loss and exhaustion; he’d been bleeding from his nose and…his eyes? Cody didn’t even know that was possible but there were bloody tear tracks joining the blood that had made a mess of his beard.

There was something sticking out of his shoulder, and Cody could see a nasty gash on his head from where he’d struck the ground.

“Out of my way, move!” an urgent, demanding voice snapped.

One of their field medics knelt beside the General’s body. Jabs quickly came to the same conclusion as Cody and immediately started doing chest compressions and emergency CPR.

It was the longest minute of Cody’s life, and an eerie silence descended whilst the entire company watched their CO with bated breath.

“He’s breathing” Jabs shouted, and sure enough Cody could see the steady rise and fall of his chest, though their Jedi’s eyes were determinedly closed.

Jabs turned to him.

“Emergency evac is on the way, I can keep him stabilized until then” the younger trooper confirmed. Cody nodded. He could do no more here, and he had a duty. They had a battle to win.

He reached for his bucket. 

\--- 

Kix hummed unhappily to himself, frowning at the readings on his scanner.

He looked at the unconscious floating form of his General and sighed. It had been touch-and-go there for a while, Jabs had managed his emergency care well but their patient had stopped breathing once he got back to the ship, and Kix had to resuscitate him. Again.

The General was always bemoaning how Skywalker gave him grey hairs, but nobody had a thought for Kix’ stress levels, running around after a Jedi who just _didn’t know when to stop_ and who, it turned out after a quick scan, was _completely incapable_ of looking after himself.

He grumbled to himself whilst he tidied up. Cody, Waxer and the many troopers who guarded their injured General (quite unnecessarily, Kix had assured them. He was more than capable of keeping watch over their Jetii, thank you very much) had left behind the cushions they had sat on and the wrappers of their ration bars. He’d shouted at the last lot, threatening Keeping-the-General-In-Bed duty if they didn’t skedaddle at once. 

He paused, uncharacteristically pensive for a moment he laid one hand flat against the glass of the Bachta tank. He had never wanted to hear the stubborn Jetii’s whinging more than at that moment. He wanted his General to wake up, to give semi-conscious hand signals and kick out at nothing until he was lifted out.

He’d only had General Kenobi under his care in the medbay on a couple of occasions, but it didn’t take Kix long to figure out the General did not like being submerged in Bacta. Or being in bed. Or indeed being looked after, coddled, fussed over or taken care of in any way.

Which made Kix’ job very difficult, because ingrained in his very DNA was the desire, and the duty, to do all these things. Sure, he and his General got on splendidly when someone _else_ was in need of medical attention; many a hypocritical lecture had been given to a shiny who didn’t immediately report to medical after some battle wound or other.

But with their _Jetii_ it was another story. For some reason it didn’t quite compute that he was in the same category as those shinnies, and the last time he’d been all but dragged in to medical the Jedi had kicked up such a fuss as to make Kix regret ever taking the medics oath.

He’d nearly met his match in General Kenobi; stubborn, tough as old boots and a master of pretence, it took all his skill to identify the problem and then as soon as Kix got him to behave himself the man was slipping out the door like a silent beige shadow the second his back was turned. 

He closed his eyes, breathing deeply and thinking about his emotions, as his General had taught him. In between battles and missions General Kenobi had taken to teaching the 212th how strength could be sought in meditation and emotional awareness. Their General truly seemed to be one of a kind.

He needed that calm now more than ever. They were falling apart without their _Alor._

Cody and Waxer were managing things well, they had finished up the battle with very little trouble (after their General’s _stupid_ life-saving antics) and the 212th were all back aboard _The Negotiator_ with minimal casualties, as had been the case since for the last few months after being assigned to General Kenobi.

But something was missing. Everyone was going through the motions; clean up, regroup, provide aid to the besieged and report their progress. But Kix had caught Cody sitting against the General’s tank looking lost far too often over the past 48 hours, and Waxer kept snapping at anything that moved.

Kix shook himself out of his weighty thoughts. The Bacta was working slowly, but it was working. In a few hours their Jedi would be tucked up in bed, Force help them all.

\---

“Was amazing…never seen anything like it!”

“Soldier! Keep your voice down!” someone hissed.

“Yeah well that’s why he’s a Master” a third voice gloated, followed shortly by a thwacking sound.

“Ow!”

“I said keep it quiet!”

Obi-Wan wondered vaguely what they were talking about, but he was too warm and comfortable to care.

He felt a kind of…heavy floatyness, all but dragging him back to sleep. A fogginess making it very difficult to care about anything besides how tired he was.

He was _so_ warm, and _so_ comfortable he could just…give it five more minutes.

 _No_. There was a reason he should open his eyes, he just knew it. Something about the troops? He’d had it moments ago; this was terribly frustrating.

_Yes. He should ask about them. The troops. Ask about the troops._

“Hmm’s men?”

No, that wasn’t quite it, but words are rather difficult after all.

It seemed to be worth something though as all noise stopped and somebody swore.

“Kriff he’s awake? How is he awake?!”

“Quick get Kix-“

“Out of the way I’ll give him some more-“

“Should’ve knocked him out for ages!”

Something was moving against the back of his hand; it was a very strange sensation. Was somebody drawing on him? He didn’t want that, terribly uncivilised to be covered in ink.

He opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. Everything was much too bright. Someone made a high-pitched unhappy noise he wholeheartedly agreed with, but blissful darkness came again as a large hand covered his eyes.

“Lights!” A voice snapped, very close to him. It was probably the same person scribbling on him, cheeky sod. “There General it’s OK” it said in a much lower, softer tone. Made him want to go to sleep. He was so tired.

_No! Troops! Are the men alright?_

“Sir I’m going to just put-“

“How’sa men?” he tried again, a little happier with this attempt. Was his tongue usually this cumbersome?

“Unbelievable” somebody breathed from further away.

The fiddling with his hand stopped abruptly. Bonus. He opened his eyes again warily, but the room was no longer painful and bright. Everything was a bit blurry though. Was that him or his surroundings?

“I…General the troops are fine, minor injuries but all taken care of. We’re managing things there’s nothing you need to worry about.” The nice, soothing voice was back. It was a voice he liked.

“Mmmm.” That was good. His eyes closed and it was completely beyond his capabilities to open them again.

“Alright General, back to sleep now.”

Well that seemed like a very sensible idea.

“Don’ draw on me” he instructed.

“I…Ok Sir, I promise” the voice had a laughing lilt to it. He began wondering why but it really didn’t matter, and soon he was being pulled under again, into the void of sleep.

\---

Obi-Wan moved gently towards consciousness, one breath at a time.

He was alive.

_Huh._

And he was horizontal, probably in a bed.

It was becoming instinct now, as depressing as that may sound, to mentally catalogue his injuries and check on the men under his command as soon as he was able. Without opening his eyes, he began reaching out with the Force seeking out the dots of life that should be surrounding him (unless he had been captured of course, but that hadn’t happened in ages).

Instead of the buzzing and energetic presences he expected, however, he got a sudden sharp pain in his head, blinding hot and completely debilitating. Quite involuntarily he cried out in pain.

“General?”

Someone was next to him, even without the Force he knew it would be Cody. He’d learned very early on that his faithful second in command was never far away.

“Kix get in here!”

Breathing deeply Obi-Wan automatically attempted to release the pain into the Force, only to have it come back with a vengeance, it was like someone was taking an ice-pick to his brain.

“Kix!”

Cody sounded like he was panicking. Or, was as panicky as Cody ever got. Reflexively Obi-Wan sent him a wave of comfort in the Force, only for the pain to intensify and he let out a whimper. Something wet was on his face, was he bleeding?

“General Sir hold on!”

He was dimly aware of Cody continuing to speak, and there were a few confusing and painful moments where he tried to curl up and cradle his head only to find his limbs were not co-operating and he ended up squirming awkwardly, the IV drip in his hand tugging painfully, before he heard a curtain being drawn back and made out the form of Kix through his squinted eyes.

“General stop using the Force!” he instructed firmly, putting a hand on his shoulder and turning him slightly to lie flat.

Obi-Wan groaned, unable to comprehend anything beyond his ferocious headache.

“You’ve got psychic shock Sir, you need to stop using the Force immediately.” The medic repeated. This time it permeated the haze of pain and Obi-Wan carefully withdrew into himself once more, squeezing his eyes shut. Someone turned down the lights.

Sure enough the pain subsided somewhat, quickly going from a blinding pain to a throbbing ache. He continued breathing heavily and gradually uncurled himself, relaxing ever so slightly as Kix wiped at his bleeding nose and he opened his eyes.

“Thank you” he said thickly, moving his hand to take the tissue from Kix only to have it batted away. He tried to move his other arm in protest only to realise it was strapped firmly across his chest.

“Sorry…what’s going on?” he asked, the was pain diming even more but everything still felt heavy and vaguely confusing. And he felt a little sick.

“Hold on a moment Sir, just follow my fingers for me please” He waved one finger back and forth slowly in front of Obi-Wan’s eyes. Who was dismayed to find it was rather a challenge.

Kix made an unhappy sound.

“You’ve still got a concussion as well Sir.”

“Oh.” Well, that was nothing new.

“Is everyone alright?” he asked, looking up from Kix to Cody, who was indeed sitting in the chair next to his bed.

“Yes Sir, everyone’s fine you can relax” Cody assured him.

He nodded thoughtfully, only to stop very quickly when it felt like his brain was sloshing around inside his head.

“I’m not dead” he observed, with no small measure of surprise.

Kix gave a derisive snort, fiddling with his IV.

“Not for lack of trying” he snapped, before seemingly catching himself and taking a deep breath. Cody shot him a look.

Guilt fluttered in Obi-Wan’s stomach.

“’m sorry for worrying you”” he said, hoping his sincerity was coming though in his voice. _Force_ that took a lot of effort. It was suddenly like he was thinking through custard. Thick and sluggish.

Cody nodded, lips remaining a tight line, and Kix sighed.

“I know you are Sir” he said, resigned. “Hold on a moment I want to check you out and then you can go back to sleep” He grabbed a chart from the foot of the bed.

Warning bells were starting to ring in Obi-Wan’s head.

“Oh no I actually feel-“

“Sir, with respect, if you say you’re fine I’m recommending you in for a psyche evaluation” Cody interrupted him flatly. Obi-Wan turned to him, surprised.

“I can handle it“ he insisted, looking between them both. 

Kix glared at him and opened his mouth to retort when Cody held up a hand to him.

“We know you can General” Cody said gently, leaning forward. “But just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.” He pointed out. “Vode have a stronger immune system than Nat Borns, but that doesn’t mean we should drink a bottle of Blue Shadow water does it?” he asked calmly.

Obi-Wan considered this.

“…no” he mumbled.

“Well then so you shouldn’t push yourself when you don’t need to” Cody pointed out, not bothering to hide his smugness.

Obi-Wan frowned. That made sense but…didn’t quite…it wasn’t the same! He squeezed his eyes shut. Thinking was so difficult. Kix was fiddling with his IV again.

“I...”

“Shhh General it’s alright.”

He wrenched open his eyes and looked imploringly at Cody.

“Can we have this discussion again later please? Don’t think I did as well as I could’ve” he asked, unable to stop the slight slur creeping into his speech again.

Kix let out a quick laugh and Cody smiled at him.

“No Sir, no do-overs”

Obi-Wan wanted to protest but unfortunately his eyes chose that moment to close, and it was quite beyond him to open them.

“You’ve been spending too much time with him” he distantly heard someone say, before blissful oblivion called.

\---

Cody was there when he woke up again. Obi-Wan lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling and testing his bounds. Everything was still slightly foggy, using the Force still hurt, and he felt a little bit like he’d been run over by a speeder bus. But he was alive, and so was everybody else.

“Sir, how are you feeling?” Cody asked.

“Alright” Obi-Wan said, carefully avoiding the word Fine. Cody gave him a look that was difficult to interpret without the Force. He wished he knew his commander better.

He tried to gather his thoughts, sure there was something he needed to do, but it was so difficult to hang on to thoughts. He didn’t realise how much he relied on the Force for his focus. Without it he felt…drained. Like a sponge that had been wrung out.

He shifted in the bed, making a half-hearted attempt at sitting up, only to find it was quite impossible with only one arm to push himself up and his ribs gave a painful twinge, but not as painful as he’d expected.

He fixed Cody with his best ‘General Kenobi’ look.

“Do you think you could you help me sit up please?” he asked tersely

His commander remained unaffected and gave him a flat look.

“No.”

“Cody!”

“You’re supposed to be lying down.”

Obi-Wan was incredibly frustrated to find he couldn’t fold his arms.

“General” Kix chose that moment to stride confidently into the room clutching his usual chart. “Good to see you’re awake” he said approvingly.

Obi-Wan shifted again.

“How am I Commander Kix? How long do I have to stay here?” he asked, perturbed he couldn’t get any impression of what the medic was thinking in the Force. It was taking a surprising amount of effort to keep himself to himself.

“You know General, some people would love to have some time off, lounging around in bed” Kix pointed out in lieu of answers. “He behaving himself?” he asked Cody over Obi-Wan’s head.

“Kix” Obi-Wan warned.

“Just about” Cody responded with a shrug.

“Yes _thank you_!” Obi-Wan could feel his temper flaring, always dangerously close to the surface in medical. He was tired and sore and very annoyed.

“Antagonising your patient isn’t very professional you know” he pointed out, miffed.

“Neither is being a pain in the ass Sir” Kix shot back.

Obi-Wan tried to sit up again. It was incredibly inconvenient arguing from such a position.

Both Cody and Kix jolted in alarm and moved to stop him. Not that he made any kind of progress anyway.

“Alright, alright.” The medic said hastily. “I want you off your feet for a couple of cycles, and then off duty for another couple and then we’ll take it from there”

Obi-Wan knew some of his dismay made it onto his face but he couldn’t stop it. That sounded like an awfully long time.

“But surely it’s just a few scrapes, and a bit of sleep and meditation will fix the Force exhaustion” he said, not one hundred percent sure he managed to avoid sounding petulant.

He instantly knew he’d said the wrong thing. Commander Kix’s eyes flashed dangerously as he clenched his jaw, and beside him Cody put his head in his hands despairingly.

“A few scrapes?” Kix repeated in disbelief, snapping his chart shut.

“ _Di’kut Jetii_ ” Cody muttered into his hands.

“A few scrapes!?” Kix all but shouted at him.

“Well I mean obviously-“ Obi-Wan frantically tried to back track.

“General Kenobi” Kix waved the chart at him, and Obi-Wan could do nothing but watch his outrage pick up speed. “You’ve got a concussion, three broken ribs, you’ve had third degree burns on your hands and your eardrums burst. Not to mention a _hole_ in your shoulder from where you were _punctured_ by red hot shrapnel” he snapped.

Alright, it did sound bad, Obi-Wan would give him that.

“Kix you have to calm down” Cody finally decided to come to his rescue and Obi-Wan shot him a grateful look.

“No I will not!” their irate medic was having none of it. “That’s all aside from the fact that for some reason you seem to have decided against eating, sleeping or drinking any liquid that isn’t caff.” he continued ranting. “I don’t know what the kark you’ve been thinking General, but I am your CMO and by all the god’s you are _not_ leaving my medbay until your health no longer rivals that of a whomp rat that’s been trodden on. Am I perfectly clear?” he demanded, his final words almost a hiss.

Force. Obi-Wan hadn’t realised how downright scary his medic could be. He had a fleeting, bizarre thought of what Kix and Master Che could achieve together, and decided it was too frightening to consider.

“Am I. Perfectly. Clear?” Kix asked again through gritted teeth when he failed to respond.

Obi-Wan nodded awkwardly, uncharacteristically lost for words. It had been quite some time indeed since he’d been yelled at. He felt about fifteen years old again.

“Yes.” He cleared his throat, which was actually rather sore. He brought his one mobile hand up and dragged his palm down his face. It still stung a little. Even without the Force, he could tell the two of them were upset.

“I’m sorry I upset you” he said. “Both of you” he looked between the two clones. Kix looked ready to punch something and Cody was giving him Big Sad Eyes that almost physically hurt.

“I…” Obi-Wan paused for a moment, choosing his next words carefully. “I’m not going to apologise for, and I do not regret, my actions” he said slowly. “It’s my job to protect you all, and I would do it again if I had to.”

He held up his hand as both men opened their mouths to argue.

“However, I am aware that I _perhaps_ ” he stressed the word “have some bad habits with regards to meals and sleep cycles” he conceded. “I just get distracted I suppose, there’s always…something else to do” he looked away from them both and gave a kind of shrug. “I promise to be more careful in the future.”

There, that usually appeased his friends and colleagues in the Temple. He’d got his ‘contrite but resolved’ look down pat.

The clones looked at each other and for one shining moment it looked like he’d made it.

“Banthashite”

_Damn._

“Cody!” he said, shocked. He could count the times he’d heard his commander swear on all the fingers of one elbow.

“Sir, with respect, you know better than to make promises you can’t keep” the trooper said flatly. “Maybe we can’t stop you pulling stupid self-sacrificing stunts in the field, but we _can_ make sure you don’t collapse from exhaustion or die of dehydration.” He put his hands on his knees and sat up a little straighter, suddenly all business. “You’re going to stay here as long as Kix wants you to, and if I need to contact the other High Generals about this I will.”

Obi-Wan scowled and resisted the urge to groan in frustration and pain. His headache was slowly escalating from a dull ache to a steady thumping.

_Why were they being so difficult about this?! If they would just leave him alone he’d be perfectly fine! He didn’t need all this…coddling._

He opened his eyes quickly when he realised with a sinking feeling that there was a good chance he said that out loud.

Both men were looking at him with clear exasperation and for some reason identical amusement playing on their lips.

“You’re still not getting it are you Sir?” Cody asked as Kix shook his head and exchanged a long-suffering look with his brother, reaching over and placing his hand on the supine man’s leg.

“You look after us, we look after you” Cody explained simply, leaning forward. “That’s just how it works. _Vod Baatir Vod_ Sir”

Obi-Wan stared at them both for a long moment. He was now squinting under the force of his headache and tiredness was starting to claw at his focus.

“But I’m not-“

“Shhh General” his objection was dismissed by a gentle voice. “We’ll look after you, please just let us.”

“Mmm” _no that wasn’t right, he looked after them_ _not the other way around._ “You shouldn’t.”

Someone made a frustrated noise and it was only then that Obi-Wan realised he had closed his eyes. 

“Sir would you just _let go_! We will fight you every step of the way on this and it’ll be a very long war for all of us.”

Well that sounded exhausting. He didn’t want to fight them about anything.

“That’s it General Kenobi, off to sleep. We’ll be here when you wake up and we’re going to look after you.”

“Whether you like it or not, you’re one of ours Alor.”

As consciousness began slipping away an undeniable warmth bloomed inside him.

He had his dear friends in the Temple, he had his teachers, colleagues and carers. He was lucky enough to have creche mates and students and an ex-padawan best friend who was _like_ a brother.

But he’d never had brothers before.

 _Vod baatir vod_. Brothers care for brothers. That would take some getting used to.

**Author's Note:**

> di’kut = Idiot  
> Jetii = Jedi  
> Vod/Vode = Brothers  
> Alor = leader


End file.
